


Anthology

by NeurotropicAgentX



Series: So Much to Tell You [4]
Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Other, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-06-03 08:40:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19460407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeurotropicAgentX/pseuds/NeurotropicAgentX
Summary: Short unconnected stories set in So Much to Tell You ’verse. In which Drake bails Eddie out, Anne and Eddie chat over coffee, and Venom and Drake discuss compatibility in the middle of the night.A couple more added. In which fantasies are discussed, and in which Riot reveals some dangerous information to Drake.





	1. Eddie Brock/Carlton Drake/Riot Symbiote/Venom Symbiote

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. I like this ’verse, but I’m not what you’d call a plot-driven kind of writer. So here’s a bunch of unconnected ideas I’ve been toying with all set in this AU. I will almost definitely end up contradicting them.
> 
> Also, a longer actual next instalment of So Much to Tell You is in the works, albeit slowly. Many thanks to my editor for looking over all chapters.

At least Venom didn’t seem to bothered by the cell. Eddie had worried that being caged would remind him of the Life Foundation. Venom had just snorted and pointed out that the bars were easy enough for them to tear through. They were together now and they were _strong_. Instead Eddie was the one who was maybe freaking out a little bit, because while they could get out, they were now on file. And they’d been seen. He didn’t like the idea that they might have to flee the damn city. His life was just staring to get back on track. He saw Annie and Dan. Mrs Chen had started unsubtly pointing him in the direction of… leads… for Venom. And Drake and Riot were here and that… was complicated.

One of the cops on duty walked in. She eyed them suspiciously, but without fear. She hadn’t seen them transform and was probably reserving judgment on her colleague’s report. ‘You’ve got a visitor,’ she said.

Eddie raised his eyebrows. They’d been here for, what? Three, four hours tops? ‘Okay. Uh, this doesn’t count as my phone call, does it?’ he asked.

She snorted. A few seconds later Drake walked in behind her. He smiled at the cop. ‘Would you please give us a minute?’ he asked. His tone was friendly enough, but it wasn’t really a suggestion.

‘I think I’m needed upstairs anyway. Don’t do anything dangerous, okay?’ said the cop.

Drake spread his hands like he was showing he was unarmed. Eddie knew better. ‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’ 

The cop nodded, satisfied, and left. Neither Eddie nor Drake spoke until her footsteps had faded away. Then Drake’s head tilted, and his expression flickered. **‘No humans in earshot.’** said Riot out of Drake’s mouth.

**Agreed,** Venom said privately to Eddie. That was one advantage of getting caught near one of the tinier precincts on an ugly night. 

‘So, what? You own the cops now?’ Eddie accused.

‘Nothing so direct. I’m a powerful public figure so people are inclined to be accommodating. You were practically a celebrity, don’t tell me the concept’s so foreign to you.’

Eddie folded his arms and didn’t say anything about getting good tables at exclusive restaurants back when he’d been with Annie. She’d found it funny. ‘Why are you here?’ he asked instead.

‘Because you were stupid enough to get caught.’ Drake’s faint smile cracked for a moment and Eddie glimpsed the anger simmering underneath.

‘We were unlucky. We’ve been doing this for months and never even came close to getting discovered.’

‘You only have to be unlucky once.’ Drake’s gaze traced the bars of the cell before settling back on them. ‘I wonder if I could convince them to hand you over to me? You’re not going to risk anything in front of the police and I _know_ how to contain you. It wouldn’t be hard to show them just how far in over their heads they are.’

‘…as a way of getting us out?’ Eddie asked slowly. He didn’t like the hungry look in Drake’s eyes. That wasn’t Riot’s hunger.

‘As a way of getting you into one of my labs. It took weeks, but I covered up that first chase through the city. Just getting you out of here and discrediting the only witness to your little snack would be trivial by comparison. If that was all I wanted.’

Eddie’s blood ran cold and Venom snarled in the back of their mind. They weren’t about to let that happen, no matter how many witnesses there would be. ‘You don’t want us in a lab,’ Eddie said firmly. ‘Not even one of yours.’

Drake took a step forward. His dark eyes were unreadable. ‘I want a lot of things and some of them are mutually incompatible.’

Eddie’s heart was hammering. He didn’t believe Drake would do it. He couldn’t believe that. Not after… everything. But he also knew that getting close to Drake was playing with fire. Drake’s sense of right and wrong was utterly twisted and he was capable of horrific things if he thought they were necessary. ‘Riot,’ Eddie said suddenly. ‘What’s he think about that?’ Eddie wondered what his life had become that he was appealing to Riot as the voice of reason. That a part of him was pretty sure it would work. 

Drake’s answering smile was sharp. ‘What _do_ you think, Riot?’ he asked out loud. ‘This would probably keep them out of trouble.’

Thin dark-silver tendrils slid out from beneath Drake’s suit cuff and wound over the back of his hand and fingers. **‘Hm. They should be kept out of trouble.’** said Riot from Drake’s throat.

‘Well then,’ Drake said cheerfully.

Eddie snorted and the tension that had been seizing up his shoulders gradually faded. ‘Okay, we get it. You’re both pissed we got caught and now you’re trying to scare us.’

Drake’s exaggerated smile fell away. He looked tired. ‘I’m trying to make you understand the possible consequences of your actions. You think tearing your way out of here and killing several officers in the process is the worst thing that could happen. It’s not. Your best defence, _our_ best defence is staying hidden. The symbiotes are unique and there are people out there with the resources to contain you if they learned just a few things about your weaknesses.’

‘People like you?’

The anger came back in full force. ‘Yes, people like me! But ones without a personal stake in your continued survival. There’s only so much even I, or Riot, could do then.’

Eddie heard the words beneath the words. That Drake and Riot would come for them if something really bad happened. He’d suspected, but knowing for sure was different. The weird swooping feeling in his guts was definitely Venom moving around, but not just Venom.

‘We’d come for you too. If something happened,’ said Eddie. 

‘Obviously,’ Drake said dismissively, breaking eye contact to flick a piece of lint off his suit. ‘Of course, we wouldn’t be stupid enough to get caught in the first place.’ His lips quirked up a second later and he got that inward-focused look that meant he was listening to Riot. 

Eddie decided to let the insult slide while he was still on this side of the bars. ‘So about getting us out…?’ he said instead. They were alone down here, but that didn’t mean either of them were looking forward to spending any more time in lockup.

Drake’s smile grew an edge. ‘I put people onto the cover-up as soon as I heard about your arrest. As for the more immediate issue, I’ve told the officers upstairs that it will take a little while for me to post your bail. The two of you can have the rest of the night here to reflect on your choices.’ 

Eddie gaped at him. ‘You can’t be serious.’

‘See you on the other side,’ said Drake amicably as he turned and walked away.

‘That’s not funny. Drake!’ Eddie shouted.

It was Riot’s low laugh that floated back toward them.


	2. Eddie Brock & Anne Weying & Venom Symbiote

Eddie winced as the door to the café banged shut behind him. He was late, but not by more than five minutes or so. That was pretty good for them. Anne gave him a classy half-wave from her table near the window. Eddie returned it, feeling out-of-place and awkward, and shuffled over to the counter. He ordered a mocha from the harried-looking barista and brought his number over to Anne’s table.

‘Hey Anne, how are you going?’

She stood up to give him a tight, casual hug. And just like that he felt less weird and uncomfortable in his own skin. 

**Being in your skin is always comfortable,** Venom corrected. **This is nice too.** Eddie could tell that Venom wanted to manifest and return the gesture, but public was public and they were careful these days. 

‘I’m good,’ said Anne when she stepped back. ‘We managed to resolve that housing dispute I was telling you about last time. How have you two been?’

‘Good, good. We’ve got a new lead on a story. Firearm smuggling. Big stuff. But tell me about your thing. I hope you made that scumbag pay through the nose.’

Anne smirked as she sat down. There was a half-finished latte in front of her and a double-chocolate cookie bigger than her hand. It didn’t take much prodding to get her to launch into the story about taking down the dodgy landlord that had been neglecting a whole block of tenements he owned. 

Eddie’s mocha arrived halfway through and Anne pushed the cookie toward them. He mumbled some half-hearted protests while his hand itched as Venom held back from seizing control. ‘What, you really think I ordered it for me?’ Anne asked. She’d never had much of a sweet tooth, but could demolish a burger faster than he could. Well, faster than he could _before_.

‘Thanks,’ Eddie said, not bothering to fight it when his hand snatched up the cookie just a bit too fast for a normal human. He broke off a piece and casually let his hand drop down near his jeans pocket. Sharp teeth barely grazed the pad of his thumb. Venom could be very delicate and particular about eating when he chose to be.

‘So,’ Anne said in a voice that was way too casual to be anything other than premeditated, ‘you and Venom finally got together, huh?’

Eddie froze with his cup halfway to his mouth. ‘Uh…’ he said. 

She gestured vaguely at him. ‘Clean clothes with no holes, hair that’s a bit different than the “just rolled out of bed” look. I know what it looks like when you’re trying for someone.’ 

Eddie’s brain was coming up with a whole lot of nothing to address this new and frightening accusation. 

**We were “together” about three seconds after I had the strength to let you know I was still there after the rocket explosion. Felt what you felt, Eddie,** Venom said smugly.

For a lack of anything better to say, Eddie gave the gist of this response to Anne.

‘But that was months ago,’ she said. 

‘Venom’s more impressed by me eating right than by clean clothes.’

The dark chuckled Venom gave in response was completely unnecessary, Eddie felt. 

It was only when Anne’s eyes glittered with an unholy light that Eddie remembered that he needed to think more than one move ahead in the conversation when he talked with her. 

‘So it’s someone else, then. How long have you been seeing this new person?’ She gave them a searching look. ‘They know about Venom, right?’

Eddie’s laugh was a little strangled. ‘Yeah, yeah they know.’ 

Anne leaned back a little and smiled. She had a nice smile. ‘So you trust them?’

‘Fuck no,’ Eddie mumbled into his drink.

‘Eddie…’

‘Nope. For everyone’s sanity, drop it.’

Anne snorted. ‘ _You’re_ telling me to let something go? Without spontaneously combusting from the sheer irony? Come on, I’m going to get it out of you sooner or later.’

Eddie put down his cup and folded his hands around it. ‘Not if I mean it. Not if I seriously tell you to drop it,’ he said.

Anne’s expression clouded over. ‘Yeah, I would drop it.’ She didn’t even emphasise the ‘I’ because she was classy like that.

 **We like Anne,** Venom agreed amicably.

‘You two are alright, though?’ she asked.

Eddie snorted. The silence stretched and even taking another sip didn’t do much to defuse the tension. But she would drop it, if he really asked her too. ‘We’re seeing Drake,’ he admitted.

Anne stared at him. If he’d said it a minute ago she would have assumed he was joking, but not now with uncomfortable tension humming between them like a plucked string. ‘What the fuck,’ she whispered. ‘Carlton Drake? Is he blackmailing you? Wait, are you blackmailing _him_? Is this a corporate espionage thing? Seriously, what the fuck?’

Eddie shrugged, still holding his drink. Luckily the cup was mostly empty so he didn’t spill any of it. ‘Nothing like that. We just… have a lot in common,’ he said weakly.

‘You really don’t,’ said Anne.

The explanation wasn’t his best and Eddie opened his mouth to mention the one really big thing they had in common, when he actually thought about what he’d said. Drake was stubborn and utterly dedicated to his principles, even as twisted as they were. And it had been easy for both of them to find time. Neither of them had what you’d call _a lot_ of strong connections. Not to other humans. Eddie was lucky that Anne, and even Dan, still wanted to be a part of his life. He wondered if Drake even had that with anyone. ‘We kind of do,’ he said, scratching the back of his head. ‘And, uh, there’s this one really big thing we have in common, too.’

Anne blinked. He could almost see the lightning quick connections happening in her head. ‘Venom. Wait, that thing on the launch pad. You were fighting against Drake and, and– ’

‘Riot. His name’s Riot.’

‘Wow,’ said Anne.

Eddie blew out a long breath. ‘Yeah. Kind of.’

‘Is it because of Venom and… Riot? Are they…?’ she left it hanging, probably more from confusion than embarrassment. She’d hosted Venom. She kind of got it.

 **We hunt together,** said Venom and his tone was smug, but also a little hesitant, like he still couldn’t believe it himself.

‘They like hunting together. In the ocean! Fish!’ he added quickly, seeing her expression. 

‘Right,’ she said steadily. Eddie didn’t really share the other kind of hunting he and Venom did together. That was… complicated. ‘And you and Drake…?’

‘Yeah. And Venom. And Riot.’ He could feel the back of his neck heating up. 

‘Are you going to try telling me he’s changed?’ Anne asked, with a heavy dash of sarcasm. 

Eddie opened his mouth, closed it. ‘Uh… not really…?’ He scrubbed a hand down his face. ‘I look into his business every so often. I’ve still got sources and if I _was_ doing any allegedly illegal things to get more information, V makes it easier. Drake’s clean. For now. He still thinks Earth’s heading for some kind of meltdown. But now that means doing a bunch of geo-engineering stuff. You know, atmospheric science, terraforming and some weird bullshit with the oceans. So the kind of science that doesn’t, uh, use people.’

‘Jesus, Eddie. I don’t know if I'm more disturbed that you’re digging into your boyfriend’s company or that he’s the sort of guy you probably _should_ be digging into. What if he shifts back into biotech? Into the stuff that does “use people”?’

‘Then we’d stop him.’ Venom grumbled unhappily in the back of their skull, but didn’t protest. Eddie hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Really, really hoped. Maybe Drake would listen to reason? Yeah, right. They probably had a better shot of convincing _Riot_ to help.

Anne was giving him a sharp look. He almost pitied the people who got hit with that look in court. ‘You really mean that. That the principles come first.’

Eddie wanted say that was always the way it went. He wanted to believe that what he’d done to Anne had just been about his principles. But it had been more than that. It had also been about the story. And about winning. ‘With him? Yeah. It would be too easy to just go along with him otherwise, get swept up in all that… enthusiasm. And I know what he’s really like.’ Scary-smart, way too persuasive and just a little unhinged. And good in bed. God, what even was Eddie’s life?

 **Our life,** Venom corrected, sounding way too pleased. Of course _he_ didn’t have a problem with Drake’s whole… Drake. But it was hard to worry about Venom being manipulated when Drake’s only tool in that department was live seafood. 

Anne nodded slowly. ‘That’s almost reassuring. If you and Venom ever need someone to work a sound system for you, let me know.’

Eddie snorted and drained the last of his mocha. It had gone cold, but Venom didn’t seem to mind. **She’s smart. Fights dirty,** he said with clear approval. **We could take them if we had to. Did it before.**

‘Thanks, from both of us,’ said Eddie.

She shrugged. ‘So tell me about the big story you’re chasing. The one that _isn’t_ about your boyfriend.’

Eddie gave a rueful chuckle before launching into the story, adding in Venom’s commentary that mostly revolved around things that felt like hunting. He couldn’t help notice that Venom didn’t interject with anything about the people he’d been allowed to eat. They’d uncovered a couple of really bad guys in the pursuit of this story. Real sick, stomach-churning stuff. So he’d given Venom the green light. ‘Surprised you’re not trying to share with Anne,’ Eddie muttered under his breath, trying to do the subvocalisation thing Drake did with Riot. 

Anne gave him a weird look. ‘Do you want some water?’ she asked.

Eddie cleared his throat. ‘No, no we’re fine.’

 **Been in Anne. She didn’t like eating bad guys. We want her to like us,** Venom admitted, coiling high beneath Eddie’s collarbones. 

Huh. The whole cannibalism thing wasn’t something Eddie wanted to draw attention to, but it was surprising that Venom had picked up enough tact to keep it to themselves. Or at least keep it from Anne. 

Eventually Anne had to go and Eddie was itching to put some words on a page. Talking about a story out loud really helped him get his thoughts in order.

‘And don’t forget about dinner next weekend, either,’ she said after a final brisk hug. ‘Dan’s cooking.’

‘We’re there,’ said Eddie earnestly. There was nothing wrong with Anne’s cooking, but Dan was on a whole other level.

Anne gave him a speculative look. ‘Maybe you should bring your boyfriend to dinner sometime.’

Eddie choked on his next breath. His brain tried to imagine Anne and Drake in the same room and gave up out of self-defence. ‘You’re joking. That’s a terrible idea.’ 

Anne just gave him a half-smile. ‘Maybe I like seeing you panic once in a while.’

Venom gave a rumbly chuckle of agreement. **Tastes interesting when you panic. Can she tell, do you think?**

‘Bye, Anne, see you on the weekend. I’m looking forward to dinner,’ Eddie said desperately in a bid to flee the conversation. 

Anne decided to show a shred of mercy. ‘Me too. And Dan. We’ll see you around seven, okay?’

‘Yeah, seven is good.’

They parted ways and Eddie was just starting to settle back down as he got on his bike. **Anne is very smart,** said Venom.

‘Yup,’ said Eddie. He could feel that Venom was going somewhere with this, but focusing on the traffic was more important. 

**And smells nice.**

‘Uh-huh.’ He was ninety percent sure Venom didn’t mean that in a food way.

**And she likes seeing you off-balance and is very good at being persuasive.**

‘It’s her job. Persuading courtrooms.’ 

Venom hummed to himself. **You have a type,** he said thoughtfully and then took control to stop Eddie swerving out of his lane into the oncoming traffic.


	3. Carlton Drake & Venom Symbiote

Drake woke up. He was cold. Brock hadn’t so much stolen the blankets as kicked them half off the bed. Riot wasn’t manifesting to shield them from the cold so it was most likely still dormant. Drake wasn’t sure if that state counted as sleep, precisely. He suspected that there was less sleep-pressure in symbiote physiology and he was putting together a picture of their homeworld’s ecology, supplemented by bits and pieces that Riot had shared. That was one area where Drake didn’t push too hard for answers. Riot had mixed feelings about the home it had left behind.

Sighing to himself, Drake reached out to tug Brock’s scratchy blankets back into a semblance of order. Dark tendrils slid out from Brock’s body to help. Drake carefully kept his breathing nice and even, though there was nothing he could do about the sudden spike to his pulse. Hopefully that wouldn’t disturb Riot. ‘Hello, Venom,’ Drake said softly. ‘I hope I didn’t wake you.’

Venom manifested a small face near the tendrils it had curled around the corner of the blanket. **‘I was awake anyway.’**

 _I not we,_ Drake noted silently. Brock was still asleep. A rare opportunity to talk to Venom directly. ‘Do you have periods of dormancy like Riot does?’

 **‘Yes.’** Venom stilled and then its eyes narrowed. **‘What did Riot tell you at the beginning that made you cooperate with him?’**

Drake blinked in the imperfect darkness of Brock’s bedroom. It hadn’t occurred to him that Venom had its own questions. Warmth spread through him at the thought that Venom might have any interest in him beyond his role as Riot’s host. A shame that it wanted to know about Riot’s deception and Drake’s self delusion. ‘Riot told me that your people were dying. That your world was barren and barely able to support you. It said that it also wanted to form a new, more durable species. That neither of our species could survive alone, but _together_...’ Drake gave a bitter chuckle, but kept it low so as not to disturb Riot or Brock. ‘There were warning signs that Riot didn’t quite share my goals. I ignored them.’

**‘That probably saved your life. It’s hard to take over completely and still keep the host intact. Riot is good enough to manage that, but he wouldn’t have bothered if you’d defied him. Inhabiting a cooperative host is easier than inhabiting a dead one, but not enough to be worth it to most.’**

Drake had had some idea of this. Riot had left behind corpses both times it had tracked him down and bonded with him. Hearing Venom laying it out so matter-of-factly made it seem just a little more real. One of those corpses left in Riot’s wake could just as easily have been him. ‘I hadn’t thought of it that way.’

**‘Riot’s never left a host intact after it was done. You’re the first. I’m still not sure why.’**

‘Circumstance,’ Drake said calmly. ‘Riot didn’t get the chance to kill me once I’d realised what it was really after and stopped cooperating. And it’s trapped on this planet now. Like you said, it had nothing else, so it came back to me.’ Thinking that he was anything other than the most pragmatic choice was what nearly doomed his species the first time around. He valued his symbiosis with Riot, had risked his life to get it back, but he wasn’t deluding himself again. Circumstances had thrown them together and while they both wanted this that was all there was to it.

‘Why Eddie?’ Drake asked. ‘He was an escape for you from my labs, but why keep him after that?’

**‘Compatibility.’**

‘But what does that mean, exactly?’ Drake asked, exasperation bleeding into his tone. ‘Immunological? Physiological? _Psychological_?’

Venom blinked at him. **‘Yes.’**

Drake snorted. ‘Very informative,’ he said dryly.

Venom was silent for a long moment. **‘Eddie... I knew about Eddie before I entered him. Another human I was in knew him as kind. We are not kind.’**

Drake thought about the bodies and Riot’s indifference to the news of its subordinates’ deaths. _Kind_ wouldn’t be the first word Drake would chose to describe the symbiotes. ‘I suppose you’re not.’

**‘He wasn’t just kind, he expected the same from me. He felt so _betrayed_ when he found out I had been feeding on him. And then he expected teamwork and cooperation, _from me_. Eddie thinks of me as something good, kind. Even though we are not. I like that.’**

A hot wave of bitterness rose up in Drake. He’d seen Riot and the rest of its people as a way out, a solution to the ecological disaster about to destroy Earth’s biosphere. While he’d got caught up in his own vision and been wrong about its goals, he’d never deluded himself into thinking of Riot as _kind_. ‘And that’s what you want to live up to? Eddie’s vision of kindness. Not pragmatism, not necessity, not working toward a solution, but just being _nice_ to each other.’

He expected Venom to be offended, but it simply tilted its head as its grin widened. **‘Maybe not such a mystery after all. Riot talks just like that, sometimes.’**

Drake had to close his eyes for a moment. He knew where his weak points were. He _wanted_ there to be a reason for Riot to have ended up with him beyond convenience. ‘So maybe it made changes to me,’ he said sourly. But he knew those words were his own. He’d been guided by pragmatism and necessity long before the symbiote project had even started.

**‘Unlikely. That’s a little too subtle, especially for Riot. Compatibility is a draw for us. Not even he is immune to that.’**

Compatibility. That elusive idea that neither Riot nor Venom seemed able to fully articulate. Maybe circumstance was how he and Riot had ended up together, but Drake had enough power to have a measure of control over his environment. To have _choices_. Riot had chosen him to get access to his rocket. Drake had sunk years and billions into getting one. Riot had been in enough humans to know how difficult it would be to start a symbiosis from scratch. Drake’s attitude had made him the more practical choice. Even after he’d understood, even after Riot’s betrayal, he’d still wanted that connection.

‘You’re pretty good at kindness,’ Drake eventually said. ‘Even if it’s not something that comes naturally to you.’

Venom gave a quiet rumble, its sound of satisfaction very close to Riot’s. Then Brock muttered something in his sleep and flung an arm out. Both Venom and Drake went still. Venom blinked at him and sent a tendril winding around his wrist before sliding away again. Drake understood that it wasn’t going to say anything else and risk waking Brock while he was in a lighter stage of sleep.

‘Goodnight,’ he whispered and Venom blinked at him again before melting back beneath Brock’s skin.

Drake stretched out on his back and rested one hand lightly on his chest, above where Riot usually liked to coil at night. He made an honest effort to fall back asleep, but his mind was dissecting his conversation with Venom and thinking through his past interactions with Riot. Unsurprisingly, Riot eventually roused from its dormant state and was immediately on high alert as usual. ‘There’s no danger,’ Drake subvocalised. 

**I know.** Riot spread tendrils out through Drake’s limbs, not deliberately making its presence felt, but not trying to hide either. Simply like it was comfortable moving in Drake’s body. **Things are different on this world. We are safe in the centre of this territory. And I have felt you deal with threats,** Riot added, a dark satisfaction bleeding through the link.

Drake considered what Venom had said about kindness. About what it valued and what Brock valued. Drake wasn’t the kind of killer Riot was, but he’d caused deaths, even beyond the unfortunate casualties that sometimes happened in the pursuit of life-saving science. He’d… dealt with threats. Through intermediaries, of course, but he didn’t pretend he wasn’t responsible for those lives lost. Brock himself had been one of those threats, not so long ago.

‘It wasn’t safe on your world,’ Drake said neutrally. He didn’t want to push Riot on this, but he did want to understand. 

**No.** A simple response, but the accompanying swirl of emotions was something Riot couldn’t, or simply wasn’t bothering, to hide.

‘Not even for a team leader.’

**No one is perfectly strong. Not even a team leader.**

It was hard to think of kindness when you were so busy defending a position of strength that you’d been building your whole life. When you had so much to lose. In a lot of ways they’d both been dealing with threats for a long time. They both understood power. ‘Go back to sleep. I’ve got us,’ said Drake.

Riot was silent as it manifested tendrils that slid across their ribs and down their back before retreating deeper into Drake’s flesh. **I know.**


	4. Eddie Brock/Carlton Drake/Riot Symbiote/Venom Symbiote

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This short would only fit in a version of this series where I didn’t decide to write a 13k story about Drake’s very particular thoughts on murder and his and Eddie’s character growth around that. But Rule of Hot, so here it is.

‘It’s stupid, I know.’ Eddie trailed off with an attempt at a shrug. Drake was still just staring at him, not quite blinking enough. They were lying together in Eddie’s bed, pressed close with the limited space. It was actually pretty comfortable with Venom and Riot keeping everyone steady, no matter what Drake said.

‘It's not stupid. It’s a fantasy. We don't have a lot of control over what we like when it comes to something as instinctual as sex,’ said Drake.

‘Sure,’ Eddie agreed cautiously. It was actually Venom who’d started the conversation. He was _fascinated_ by the way humans thought about sex. He’d gone from asking a million questions about ‘human mating habits’, like this was his favourite nature documentary, to offering _suggestions_. And yeah, maybe he’d been right about Drake and Riot liking that thing with their tongue, but it was still kind of embarrassing to talk about this stuff out loud with another human in the room. 

**Not embarrassing. Didn’t you notice the way his pupils got bigger when you talked and how the taste of his sweat changed?** Venom asked.

‘Having those kinds of senses takes some getting used to. But, um, thanks.’ Venom’s answering grin slid into his mind as a crystal-clear picture. ‘So what about you?’ Eddie asked, switching his focus back to Drake. ‘What are your fantasies?’ 

Venom’s focus sharpened too. **Yesss, tell us.**

Drake’s expression froze for a moment. ‘You don’t want to know what my fantasies are.’ He said it lightly, jokingly, but the effect was spoiled by something just a little too intent in his eyes.

Eddie snorted. ‘Come on. You know we don’t scare easy. And if you don’t tell me I’m just going to make up something worse in my head.’ 

Drake was silent for long enough that Eddie thought he wasn’t going to answer. ‘Alright,’ he finally said, ‘it was after the rocket explosion when I thought Riot was gone, but that you two had probably survived. I drafted plans to protect myself from your potential revenge and implemented them _fast_. I spent a lot of time thinking about you during that time,’ he added quietly.

Riot’s tendrils had been wandering over all of them and along the wall behind Eddie’s bed. As Drake spoke, he pulled in closer. Hard to tell if that was defensiveness or reassurance.

Something fluttered low in Eddie’s guts, and it wasn’t Venom. ‘Did you end up constructing your own little revenge fantasies, then?’ He almost wouldn’t blame Drake for it, if he’d thought that they’d cost him Riot.

‘Rarely. Revenge isn’t productive. But I thought a lot about how that confrontation could go. I found one of the more unlikely scenarios… appealing.’ There was a faint smile on Drake’s face. Eddie kind of wanted to lick it, but he wanted to hear what Drake had to say even more.

‘Yeah?’

‘Mm. The two of you would crash in, no subtlety of course. I’d have my security stand down as a show of good faith. I wouldn’t have had the chance to brief them and they wouldn’t have been fast enough, anyway. You’d probably already have me by the throat.’

‘And then what?’ Eddie’s mouth had gone dry and his heart was thudding in his chest. What would Drake have wanted then? When he had been fully human and entirely at their mercy.

 **Then we would have eaten him,** said Venom. **Or maybe not,** he added after a pause, **if he’d smelled like that.**

Eddie swallowed and Drake’s eyes gleamed in the low light. ‘And then I persuade you.’

‘Oh yeah? Sexily?’ Eddie asked. He could see that. Drake made no secret of how he felt about the symbiotes. And bargaining with sex was practically a porn classic.

‘No, ideologically,’ Drake said absently, staring off into some bizarre dimension only he had access to.

‘What?’

‘I convince you both that I’m right. That my methods are harsh, but ultimately lead to the greatest good. You decide you want to be a part of that, the salvation of humanity.’ Drake’s gaze suddenly focused back on them, dark and piercing. ‘You let me pick your targets for you. I tell you who needs to be removed and you… sate your appetites.’

Venom rumbled his approval internally and Eddie shivered. ‘I meant your sexual fantasies, not your megalomaniacal ones.’

Drake smirked. ‘Obviously in this fantasy we all end up fucking at some point down the line, but that’s the _context_ for it.’ 

Eddie blinked. Hearing Drake swear was always a bit disconcerting. ‘Because you need a weirdly specific context to really make your alien sex fantasy come to life.’

Drake shrugged. ‘Think about it. Here’s the most powerful entity on the entire planet accepting my guidance alone. Imagine the two of you coming back from a hunt, all keyed-up and just so proud of evading detection. I’d be the only one who’d know what you’d done, what you were capable of. All that dangerous power bent to my goals and surging underneath me.’

Eddie stared at him while he tried to imagine what it was like in Drake’s head. He decided to focus on the most relevant part. ‘Underneath you, huh?’

‘Or on top of me. I’m wouldn’t be picky about that. Not if I could have you both in the ways that really mattered.’ 

Eddie snorted. ‘Wow.’ He frowned. ‘You and Riot, you don’t do that, do you? Pick “targets”?’

‘No. It’s too risky. I’m too much of public figure and my movements aren’t as off the radar as yours could be.’

‘We’d never do that – kill for you. Certainly not on your word of who deserved it.’

‘No, you’re content to go after organised crime rings and dark alley rapists, yes? Band-aid solutions to trivial problems.’

‘Tell that to the people we save.’

Drake waved the words away. ‘Like I said, it’s a fantasy. This has its merits too,’ he added, propping himself up on one arm so he could drag his fingertips down Eddie’s spine. ‘The four of us together is beyond anything I’d imagined.’ Riot seeped out along Drake’s hand as he spoke, just enough to make claws that scored lightly across Eddie’s skin and left tingling prickles of not-quite-pain in their wake.

‘Are you trying to distract me?’

‘I’d rather distract you than argue about each others’ methods. It’s not like I’d be able to persuade you.’ He said it wryly, but there was a hint of wistfulness that he couldn’t quite manage to hide.

Eddie accepted the change of topic graciously. It had been a nice evening and he knew from experience how fragile that could be between them all. ‘Okay, so there’s a limit to what I’m willing to play along with, and whispering “you were right” while we fuck is definitely too far.’

Drake’s lips quirked up in a genuine smile. ‘I can respect that.’

‘But maybe we can work something out to, uh, scratch that itch.’

Drake’s breath caught and his fingertips spasmed against Eddie’s skin. ‘I mean, if you’d both be willing...’ His eyes searched Eddie’s face, maybe looking for a way to catch Venom as well. ‘And of course your fantasy would be an easy enough itch to scratch too.’

 **‘Sounds good,’** Venom said, manifesting a face over Eddie’s shoulder to stare down at Drake. **‘You should ask Riot about what he wants, sometime. Very _interesting_.’**

Drake’s eyes flashed silver as Riot seized control. **‘We are not talking about that,’** Riot said quickly, but even Eddie could hear the edge of hunger in his voice.


	5. Carlton Drake/Riot Symbiote

Drake scrubbed a hand down his face and sat back from his laptop. He wasn’t going to get anything more done tonight. Riot was a quiescent presence lurking in the back of his head and coiled around his viscera. ‘Thank you for your patience,’ he said. ‘Do you feel like a snack before bed?’

 **Yes.** Riot sounded distracted so Drake took them through into the kitchen. They’d eaten down in the labs before Drake had even left the Foundation and there was nothing alive in the kitchen. But there was raw meat in the fridge, and apparently that tasted close enough to living prey to be worth eating.

Drake unwrapped a piece and put it on a chopping board. It wasn’t until he’d picked up a knife and started shaving off thin slices that Riot interrupted. **What are you doing?**

Drake’s half-formed impulse coalesced into clear intent. ‘I thought I might join you,’ he said, keeping his eyes on the knife. He hadn’t put much effort into acquiring kitchen skills and even a simple task like this one required most of his attention. ‘Thinner slices are more appetising for a human.’

Riot stilled his hands and had him set the knife aside. Drake had just enough time to be surprised that it didn’t want to share before Riot manifested. Dark silver tendrils slid out from his arms and shoulders and shifted into blades. The cutting edges were as thin as scalpel blades and almost certainly sharper. A stark contrast to the massive blades it used in combat. In seconds Riot had reduced the chunk of meat to a series of paper-thin slices. Drake let out the breath he’d been holding. ‘The way you move,’ he said, almost to himself. He reached out to brush his fingertips down one of Riot’s tendrils, stopping just short of the blade. He didn’t see Riot’s weaponry very often and while the blade appeared to gleam as wetly as the rest of Riot’s flesh it was utterly static. Perhaps sensing his curiosity, Riot moved another of its blades closer to Drake’s face. 

**I would like to share,** said Riot. 

‘Good,’ Drake said absently, staring at the blade hovering centimetres from his eyes. He caught the tendril gently, turning it this way and that in the light. Was it _metal_? A metalloid? Some kind of organic compound? If so, Riot’s cells manufactured and reabsorbed the material at a staggering rate. Maybe the blades weren’t even distinguishable from the rest of Riot’s cells and this was simply its ability to impose its will over its own substance at a cellular level. Or at a sub-cellular level, even. A constant shape-shifting edge, permanent sharpness. 

Drake noticed a smear of juice from the meat coating one side of Riot’s blade. He blinked as a strange impulse seized him. His, not Riot’s, he was sure. He drew Riot’s blade closer still and ran his tongue along the flat. Raw meat was more palatable these days, even to Drake’s human tongue, and it wasn’t as if they could catch anything now.

Riot’s low growl reverberated inside his skull as the taste sharpened its hunger. Warm satisfaction flooded their bond, but there was another elusive emotion beneath those surface feelings, one that Riot was holding away from the link. Drake didn’t pry and pulled up a chair instead. They were alone, so he didn’t bother with a plate or cutlery. He picked up a slice of meat between his thumb and forefinger and put it directly in his mouth. An acquired taste, but not unpleasant. 

Riot oozed out from beneath Drake’s skin and clothes, forming a shifting face and more tendrils. It wrapped itself around a few slices and ate them with uncharacteristic care. Drake found himself watching with a faint half-smile. He offered the next piece he picked up. Riot’s eyes narrowed and it wrapped a thick tendril around Drake’s wrist to hold him steady. It took the meat delicately between its teeth, the razor-sharp tips not even grazing Drake’s skin. He shivered, both his and Riot’s feelings bouncing across their link and blurring together. They felt good. 

**Yes,** Riot agreed quietly. **I want…** it trailed off. Drake caught a glimpse of that underlying feeling again, the one Riot was trying to hold back. Frustration, perhaps, edged with something stronger. Was that _fear_?

‘What do you want?’ he asked lightly, working to keep his concern on his side of the bond. Holding back from prying was getting more difficult, but if Riot wanted to share it would and there was no point in trying to force the issue. Drake wasn’t half as good at accessing Riot’s consciousness as it was at accessing his.

**The work you were doing before, looking at the reports, organising, that will save this planet?**

Drake blinked at the non sequitur. ‘Buy us some time, maybe. A lot of our modelling of the new technologies is very theoretical at this point and applying some of the principles could have catastrophic effects if we’re wrong. Terraforming is hardly an exact science. Hardly a science at all at this point,’ he added under his breath. He sighed and straightened back up. ‘But you’re right, that’s the goal. That’s what I want.’

**Sustaining a planet is very different way of thinking for me. For my people.**

Drake hummed. ‘I care about this planet because it has humans on it. If burning the entire planet to ash is what it would take to ensure my species’ survival, I wouldn’t even hesitate.’

**But your species is here.**

‘Yes.’

**Trapped.**

Drake grimaced. ‘Yes.’ A part of him was still sure that space was the ultimate answer. Why did humans have to be so _fragile_? Zero-G, radiation, and extremes of temperature alone were huge obstacles, not to mention humans’ narrow range of chemical requirements and tolerances. But space was also, paradoxically, where near limitless resources existed. Materials, energy, the room to expand and grow, that was his species’ destiny, the _only_ answer.

Riot made a considering noise in the back of Drake’s skull. 

**I like this,** it finally said, a flash of agitation surfacing and disappearing almost too quickly for Drake to register. He hesitated, not entirely sure what Riot was referring to. **This, all of this! Sharing food, sharing a body, sustaining a host rather than using and discarding one. Hunting with Venom, sex with Eddie and symbiosis with you. Saving a species. I want this kind of life for my people. For all of them.**

Drake was stunned and his next exhale was shakier than he would have liked. ‘You know how much I want that. Your people could still be a _solution_.’ Ideas unfolded in Drake’s mind and he did his best not to dismiss the riskier ones out of hand. Not at this stage, not even if the results of choosing wrong could doom humanity. Not when doing nothing would be guaranteed destruction.

‘Dangerous, though,’ he said out loud. 

He stood up and started pacing, needing an outlet for his restlessness, for Riot’s. ‘We’d need to establish communications before we even thought about bringing anyone else in. How space-capable are your people? Would we have to worry about invasion if we contacted you, or would we need to send out ships to bring you in? Could we bring a few in at a time? We have the tech to contain your kind, and you’re probably strong enough to overpower most symbiotes. We could work on getting around your social taboos in each individual. Time-consuming, but maybe the safest option. Should we bring Venom and Brock in on this? It was the first of your kind to choose symbiosis, maybe it has some insights into convincing others to stand _with_ humans.’

Drake froze mid-step as Riot seized control and then shoved their body up against the nearest wall. This wasn’t the usual smooth ceding of autonomy that came from sharing a body. This was Riot demonstrating exactly how much control it could exert when it chose to. Drake had thought they were beyond this kind of posturing. But instead of gloating satisfaction, Riot’s half of the link was a morass of agitation and fear. This is what it had been trying to hide from their connection. Adrenaline spiked in their body and Drake still had no idea _why_. 

He bared his teeth to the empty room. ‘What’s the problem? _Talk_ to me,’ he demanded, since Riot had been gracious enough to leave him his voice and his breath. ‘You’ve been on-edge since the start of this conversation and you keep dropping cryptic little hints. If you want something from me, just ask!’

Riot manifested in front of him and formed a face with sharp, dripping teeth. Claws grew from Drake’s body and dug into his shoulders. Drake would have shivered if he’d been able to move. In another context he’d be enjoying this.

Riot narrowed its eyes and regarded him. **‘You once said that you’d watch me die if I tried to destroy your species.’**

Drake gazed back steadily. ‘I did.’ And whatever Riot meant to him, that had to be true. No individual was worth an entire species. Not Riot, not even himself. 

Riot nodded, an entirely human gesture. **‘I am going to give you information. Dangerous information. If you try and use it against my species I will kill you.’** Riot wasn’t hiding anything from the link now and its emotions were utterly clear. It would regret killing him, perhaps deeper than it had ever regretted anything, but it wouldn’t hesitate. Beyond that, its fear still hummed through their bond. The full force of the emotion was staggering compared to the hints that Drake had caught earlier. He opened his mouth to tell Riot that it didn’t have to tell him anything, but he couldn't quite force the words out. His curiosity _burned_. ‘I understand,’ he said instead. Riot’s promise didn’t bother him. He could respect its conviction.

 **We did not evolve like your species. We were made.** Riot’s voice was nearly quiet in Drake’s head, as if it feared someone overhearing their internal communication.

Drake’s lips parted and his mind raced with the implications. ‘You’re synthetic lifeforms,’ he breathed. ‘That explains so much. Your physiology was intricate and so adaptable. There were barely any redundancies, but the range of things you could do… not to mention how easily you bonded to us, even when the link was unstable… like you were made for it.’ He swallowed the impulse to laugh.

Riot gave a low growl and its talons dug in harder, drawing blood. **Yes, we were made for symbiosis, made to crave it. Our creators built that in, to help maintain control. We were not even made as slaves, we were made as _tools_.**

Drake sobered. ‘You escaped,’ he guessed.

**Yes. Millennia ago. Our creators paid dearly for what they did to us.**

The puzzle pieces fell into place. ‘Your social norms. Your taboos against symbiosis.’ And suddenly Riot’s emotions made a lot more sense.

What would it be like to distrust your most fundamental instincts? To never know if you were acting for yourself or for your long-dead creators. To second-guess anything that felt good, anything you wanted. ‘Venom doesn’t know,’ Drake said slowly.

**No. Only the core leaders and select team leaders are burdened with this knowledge.**

‘And you would have killed it for bonding with Brock.’ 

**Yes. Better to die than live enslaved by a host.**

Drake couldn’t help but scoff at the notion of Brock enslaving anyone, but his next thought chilled him. No, _Brock_ didn’t have the imagination or the drive for something like that, but Drake had been trying to exert control from the moment Venom had unwittingly revealed Riot’s vulnerable position. Riot had to _know_ that. It was very good at reading him and it had been in him for months. 

He still couldn’t move, but his heart started racing. Why the hell hadn’t Riot hadn’t torn him apart as soon as it had realised how Drake had done his very best to exploit its weaknesses? Just like its creators might have. That thought left a sour taste in the back of his throat. 

**You’re afraid. Why?**

Drake tried to voice a denial, but the words wouldn’t come. He hadn’t feared what Riot might do to him for a long time. There had been so many opportunities for it to kill him or even simply take over. Maybe it couldn’t. Maybe the programming buried in its genome prevented it from tearing into a host that had so much in common with its creators. Something low in Drake’s guts twisted unpleasantly. 

A familiar tingling started at the base of his skull as Riot dug through his thoughts in a bid to understand. Drake closed his eyes and waited, half-expecting retribution. 

When Riot found what it was looking for it made an amused sound like grating metal. It eased its grip on their body and Drake slumped down against the wall until he was sitting on the floor, Riot still hovering in the air in front of him. 

**You worry because you tried to manipulate me? Tried to use my emotions to control me?** Riot’s grin widened and its claws slid from Drake’s shoulders and down his arms. **I told you. We were not slaves, we were tools. Who would bother to try and manipulate a weapon? To exploit the emotions of a blade? You manipulated me as you would manipulate one of your own kind. From the moment I first made my presence in your body known to you, you saw me as a person.**

Drake laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. Relief was pouring through him and he tilted his head back against the wall. Riot absently traced the line of his exposed throat with one claw-tip. ‘That’s an incredibly low bar,’ he said.

 **I know.** Drake sighed and let himself enjoy the feel of Riot’s claws on his skin. **And you’re smart enough to know why this knowledge is dangerous. Especially held by someone like you.**

Drake closed his eyes again. Easier to spin out the possibilities if he didn’t have to meet Riot’s milky gaze. ‘Of course. If your entire species craves symbiosis, especially an unbalanced kind the puts the power in the hands of the hosts... well. I assume it’s set deep in your genetic code. The vulnerabilities are probably there, locks waiting for the right biochemical keys, ways to force subservience from you. Ways to make you _want_ that. I also assume some of you have tried excising the vulnerabilities.’

**Some core leaders, early on, before my time. The results were... unpleasant. There is a lot we can change about ourselves, but some parts are too fundamental to alter.**

Drake hummed and leaned into Riot’s touch. The claws against his throat had lost definition and Riot was now sliding thin tendrils down his neck and beneath his shirt. Reassurance, perhaps. For both of them. ‘So you took in new codes, ones that made you hostile to hosts, made symbiosis something disgusting or terrifying. But those were work-arounds, always in conflict with your deeper cravings. You reinforced the new coding with social norms. And even then it didn’t always work. Is the one in four failure rate representative, or is Venom an outlier?’

 **I don’t know. We don’t signal about it. Two in four failure rate now,** it added quietly.

Drake reached up and ran his fingertips along Riot’s surface, working out its position by touch alone. ‘I don’t want to enslave your people or turn them back into tools.’ He opened his eyes and met Riot’s gaze. ‘But this information does make the task of integrating our species easier. Though it also means that human hosts would need to be screened as carefully as your people.’ Working out who to bring in on this, who to tell… the public would need to know sooner or later, but he was loath to reveal the symbiotes before they could do it from a position of strength. They weren’t invulnerable. ‘Are you going to tell Venom?’ he asked. ‘About your history?’

Riot was silent for a long moment. **That is probably necessary.**

Drake nodded and stood up. His legs were a little shaky, but Riot steadied them. ‘There’s a lot of work to be done and a lot I need to know from you, but that can definitely wait until tomorrow. For now, the best thing we can do is finish that snack.’

**Yes.**

They made their way back to the kitchen counter. When Riot next held out a sliver of raw meat for Drake the underlying fear of its own enjoyment was still there, but fuzzier, muted. Perhaps that feeling would never go away completely. Perhaps the reminder was important for Drake to hold onto as well. There had been a time when he would have tried to exploit the information that Riot had given him in the worst ways. There was a dark appeal to the thought of Riot bent completely to his whims, to the symbiotes being nothing more than helpful tools that would allow humans to live among the stars. 

But things had changed. And maybe Drake should fear those changes that could easily have resulted directly from their deep symbiosis. Riot had changed, after all. But summoning that kind of fear was beyond him, so he drew Riot closer instead and licked the taste of raw meat off its claws. Its satisfied growl echoed through them and Drake smiled.


End file.
